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Mandarin 88, Valencia - Review

Tried this place last night and really liked the food. The ingredients were all fresh and very yummy. Had potstickers, BBQ pork fried rice and sizzing mandarin chicken.

The potstickers were served on a bed of sauteed beansprouts which I thought was a nice touch, including an edible garnish. Other places I get them at the plate is lined with lettuce which then gets wilted and greasy and therefore inedible. I liked the rice so much I had 2 helpings when usually I only eat a small tiny bit. The chicken dish had a tangy peppery sauce and had chicken and different vegetables including baby bok choy which is a vegetable have rarely seen included on the west coast.

The portions were decent, we have some leftovers, but not so many that we will be eating them for the next 3 days. And accordingly the prices are a little bit lower than some other chinese restaurants around town.

They didn't get 4 stars because a couple of things bugged me. A large screen TV was in the back of the dining room so the younger members of the staff -- they looked to be teenagers, could watch TV while not answering the phone. I would have liked some background music instead. We had to swipe a fork from another table, we were missing a fork, and the server disappeared back into the kitchen as soon as she dropped off the food. Instead of watching the TV the teens could have been checking the tables to make sure the proper utensils were there.

The server did come back to check on us often and refill our water and was pleasant when I asked questions about the dishes before we ordered.

I will definitely be eating here again, if the food continues to be as good as this time, this may become my default chinese food place.

This veggie-packed sheet pan shakshuka is easy to prep and, equally important, an absolute breeze to clean up. It’s a great meatless weeknight meal option, and would also make for an impressive no-fuss brunch entree for a crowd.